The first presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle is scheduled for Thursday. The event, hosted by CNN, will begin at 9 p.m. and feature several unprecedented elements. Most notably, it will be the first debate without an audience since the first presidential debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon in 1960. The campaigns of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump agreed to the new rules. Steve Fein, a psychology professor at Williams College in Massachusetts, told the Guardian that he thought the choice to exclude the audience was “reasonable” and would benefit American voters, adding that he thought it would. “This will greatly reduce the likelihood that the focus of the debate will not be on what was actually said, but everything around it: the audience's reaction and the appeal to the audience,” he said. “I think this will change the actions that candidates may take,” he said. “It will also change what viewers take away from the debate, what they remember, and what will be broadcast on the news the next day. It's all based on the audience's reaction, because the audience's reaction may or may not be correct.” Ultimately, the hope is that the debate will remain substantive, emphasizing each candidate's stance on issues and legislative solutions rather than empty attacks that elicit cheers and heckling. The lack of an audience is just one of the many interesting aspects of the debate. It is the earliest presidential debate in history, the first between a sitting president and a former president, and the first since 1988 that is not hosted by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates. Microphones of candidates who are not speaking will also be muted, and the broadcast will include two commercial breaks.
The first debate of the 2024 presidential election cycle is scheduled for Thursday. The event, hosted by CNN, will begin at 9 p.m. and feature some unprecedented elements.
Most notably, it will be the first presidential debate without an audience since the first debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon in 1960.
The campaigns of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump agreed to the new rules.
Steve Fain, a psychology professor at Williams College in Massachusetts, He told the Guardian He added that he believes the choice to eliminate live audiences is “reasonable” and will benefit American voters.
“[It] “It's going to make the debates a lot less about what's actually being said and more about everything around it – the audience reaction and the appeal to the audience,” he said. “I think that will change how candidates behave.”
“It also changes what viewers take away from the debate, what they remember, and what gets broadcast on the news the next day. It all depends on how the viewers react, and sometimes their reactions are right, and sometimes they're not.”
Ultimately, the hope is that the debates will be substantive and will highlight each candidate's positions on issues and legislative solutions, rather than empty attacks that elicit cheers and jeers.
The lack of an audience is just one of the many interesting aspects of the debate: it is the oldest presidential debate in history, the first between a sitting president and a former president, and the first since 1988 not hosted by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates. Microphones for candidates who are not speaking will also be muted, and the broadcast will have two commercial breaks.
